Broken
by rAcHeLcUlLeN.xoxoxo
Summary: A fire killed Bella, Alice, and Emmett's parents, but it didn't kill the pain that they left behind. Will the Cullens be able to uncover the truth in time to help them, or will everyone be broken by their secrets?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One- Gone**

I sat in the front seat of one of the nicest cars I had ever been in, but at that moment I would have rather been anywhere else. The rain hammered down against the car, each individual drop getting lost in the din of the others. I couldn't bring myself to face him. I was looking everywhere else; the rain, my hands. I knew that I had to face him at some point. But I couldn't bring myself to do it now.

"Bella…" he started, trailing off when he realized that I was the one who had to do the talking. He had nothing left to say. I looked out the window at the rain again and wished for a second that I was out there in the elements, instead of safe and warm in this car next to the person that I loved more than anyone else in the world.

But I couldn't say that to him. Not after everything that had happened. I was afraid to love him, afraid that I would lose him if I said the words. But I knew, as the next two words came out of my mouth, that I had already lost him.

"I'm leaving."

_**5 MONTHS EARLIER**_

BELLA P.O.V.

I sat in the wannabe lobby of the orphanage with my older brother Emmett, watching as people came and went. I couldn't believe that people actually came here of their own free will. It was bleak and depressing, and it smelled awful. Like sadness. I remembered the day I got here and cringed at the memory of why I had to come here in the first place.

The fire;

_There is smoke everywhere, what do I do? I have to find Alice and Emmett and mom and dad. I crawl through the smoke that seems like it is swallowing me. Somewhere, I hear screaming; my mom. I follow it frantically before someone scoops me up. Then we're running, through the smoke and fire. They put me down next to someone. Alice._

The hospital;

_I can't breathe. Someone is talking to me but I can't focus. The burning in my lungs is too much. Someone tells the voice to leave. Thank you. I feel the painful prick in my arm that would usually be associated with something important, something I don't like, but I can't make the connection. The blackness swallows me, taking me back to relive the whole thing over and over again until I wake up._

The conversation that changed everything;

"_Bella, Emmett, Alice, there is something I need to tell you," says the Doctor. I know that look on his face. It is the look that you get when you say someone died. I can't believe it. I want to run, to escape the harsh truth that I am about to face. But I am frozen, paralyzed in space until I hear the fateful words that changed everything._

"_Your parents are dead." There is more, he is talking about cause of death, but I can't hear him over my heart, or the voices swimming around in my head. Emmett is wrapping his arms around me, but it doesn't register in my brain. All I can hear are the words. 'Your parents are dead.'_

There are things in life that I just have to live with, and the fire is one of them. I blinked back tears and remembered where I was. It was time to meet the new family. Alice didn't come. She told me that she couldn't face anymore let downs. I didn't blame her. Six families had shown interest in us; six families that Alice had started to love and six families that had broken her heart. That's why Emmett and I were going today; we didn't love so easily. Not after everything that had happened to us.

"Isabella and Emmett Swan?" asked the receptionist, as if I hadn't been here for a month and she didn't actually know that I went by Bella. I rolled my eyes but nodded and she gestured for us to walk through the door into the meeting room.

The meeting room is the best part of the orphanage- literally. They didn't want people to know how awful it was in that place, so they made the only part that outsiders could see beautiful. It was modern, but not harsh and uninviting. It was perfect. The colors and the shapes-

"Isabella Swan? Emmett Swan?" called the interview conductor, pulling me out of my reverie. She led us into one of the three interview rooms and sat me down in the most comfortable chair. Then we waited in silence. Well, Emmett and I waited in silence; she prattled on about anything and everything driving me crazy. Finally the door swung open and two of the most beautiful people I had ever seen walked through the door.

"Hello, you must be Bella and Emmett," said the man warmly. I was shocked that he knew my nickname but I let it go, wondering how two people that were ready to be parents were so pretty. I didn't want to talk, to bare my soul for these strangers enough that they would like me. But then I remembered the broken look on Alice's face when she told me she couldn't come, that she couldn't do it anymore. So I let them in, but just for her.

"Yes, my sister Alice couldn't make it today. She is… sick," I said, my voice cracking a little bit on the last word. I had always been a terrible liar but they didn't seem to notice. The just slid into the other two chairs and introduced themselves as Carlisle and Esme Cullen. They were nice people, nicer than I expected them to be, but I couldn't tell how they felt about us.

"Bella and Emmett?" asked Carlisle when the interview conductor left to let us talk alone. I looked up into his amber colored eyes and nodded, not trusting my voice. I knew that this was the time when he would say that he just didn't feel like he could handle two teenage girls but that I seemed nice enough, or that he was just too busy at work, or-

"How would you feel about me and Esme adopting you and your sister?" Well, that was a new one.

"I- really?" I asked, unsure if somehow I had managed to sleep in and dream the whole thing. That would explain how gorgeous they were. He nodded and smiled at me and then stopped, making my heart drop.

"Just one thing," he said. I waited- I would have sold my soul at this point if it meant making Alice happy, "I want to meet your sister." That was all? I nodded again and ran to get her. Then I ran into her. It seems like she had been waiting at the stairs, because she had this feeling that I was going to need her. I didn't question it, I knew Alice well enough by now to know to just roll with it.

"I'm Alice and I can't tell you how much this means to me and my siblings," said Alice, hugging each of them with tears in her eyes. I nodded along and tried to look grateful, which I was, but I wasn't quite as… vibrant as Alice. But I hugged them too and smiled as they walked into the adoption office. Emmett was beaming and Alice was jumping up and down. I just stood there but they knew I was happy.

Once they were out of earshot, Alice turned to me and said, "Everything is going to get better now. I promise." The times like these were when I was glad that I refused to bet against Alice.

_Please review! Do you want Bella to end up with Edward or Jasper?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two- Secrets, Secrets…**

The drive through New York City was amazing. After being cooped up in the orphanage for over a month, I was more than ready to be free. Since we had lived on the coast farther north of the City, I hadn't gotten to come here as often as I would have liked. I had always been a big city girl, and living in New York City to be a writer had been my dream. But that was before everything that had happened. My mom had supported me unconditionally and now that she was gone…

I couldn't think about that. Instead I focused my attention on the city people walking by. They all had a different story to tell, something good or bad that had changed their life forever. It had been my dream to make sure all of their stories were told. But now that I had my own story to tell, the idea seemed less appealing.

I pulled out my journal and started to jot down the day's events when a part of Carlisle and Esme's conversation caught my attention.

"How do you think the kids will react?" asked Esme. I had my headphones in but wasn't listening to music; something told me that I wasn't meant to be a part of this conversation. I assumed that they were talking about us so I listened more closesly. I felt a little guilty listening in on my new parents' conversation, but Alice was asleep, and she loved to eavesdrop. It looked like I would have to fill her in on it later.

"Well, I'm sure that Rosalie won't want to share the spotlight, Edward will be moody, and Jasper will be amused by his siblings' reactions. But other than that I'm sure that they won't mind," said Carlisle with a laugh. My mind was turning at this. They had other kids? I wanted to wake Alice up and see what she thought but I didn't want them to know that I had been listening. Looks like it would have to wait…

"Okay kids, we're here!" said Esme loudly, somehow managing to wake Alice up with only that. Emmett, though, was another story. Both Ali and I reached over to punch him on the shoulder, but still he didn't move. I sighed and Alice reached into her bag to pull out an air horn. Ok, I know that she's a little random, but even I think that an air horn is kind of a weird purse accessory. Although with Emmett as a brother, you never know when you might need it.

"You might want to cover your ears," said Alice to Carlisle and Esme, grinning evilly at the same time. She was enjoying this way too much. I covered my ears warily, having been woken up by her air horn more than once. She didn't bother covering her own ears, instead pressing down on the button for a good ten seconds. Let's just say Emmett woke up.

"What the…?" asked Emmett, jumping and hitting his head on the top of the car. He rubbed his forehead and grumbled something about annoying pixie little sisters. I'm sure that Alice heard him but was apparently too self-satisfied to say anything.

"Okay, we want to tell you something…" said Carlisle, looking slightly uncomfortable for the first time since I had met him. Alice tuned back in immediately, any gloating forgotten at the prospect of a secret. Emmett and I glanced at each other, both thinking about the many other families that had already rejected us.

"We have three other kids!" Esme said this suddenly and rather quickly, covering her mouth as soon as she said it. Alice and Emmett just gaped at her, but I started giggling. What? It was funny. They all looked at me and then all of a sudden we were all laughing, harder than we had in months. I smiled, before remembering the statement that had made me laugh so hard.

"These kids… they don't know we're coming, do they?" I asked this question based on my amazingly perceptive nature. And the fact that I was a madly talented eavesdropper. Alice rolled her eyes at me but Carlisle and Esme didn't realize- or if they did they didn't say so. Carlisle and Esme looked at each other again, this time with slightly more apprehension. I smiled at them and opened my door. I was ready to meet these kids… Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward. What odd names, I feel kind of bad for them.

"ALI!" shouted Emmett. I didn't even bother looking over my shoulder, though the few people that were walking along on the sidewalk seemed a little freaked out at Emmett's volume. After being his sister for forever, it was something that you get used to. I looked at the building in front of me and my mouth dropped. Literally.

It was one of those huge, gorgeous apartments that lined Central Park and you just knew that everyone inside was completely loaded. A second floor apartment would probably cost around 5 million dollars. At first I thought that we were at the wrong one- maybe the one next door? But they were all just as nice and Carlisle walked into the one in front of us, my siblings walking behind him with similar expressions to mine.

My bag was slipping off of my shoulder, and I reached my hand in to grab my camera as stealthily as possible. I took a quick picture of the gorgeous lobby but then smiled sheepishly when I noticed Esme looking at me. Whoops.

"So kids, we are going to start you in school tomorrow at… well we actually wanted to talk to you about that," said Carlisle, pushing the button for the penthouse. I think my mouth opened wider than humanly possible. We had been adopted by Bill Gates incognito. "There are two choices," said Carlisle, drawing my attention back to him and away from the insanely large amount of money they were in possession of, "you can either go to a local private school, or a performing arts school."

I was seriously catching flies over here because going to a performing arts school was another one of me and Ali's dreams. Singing, acting, dancing; we had practically been raised for it. Mom always… no, I can't think about that. Mom would have wanted me to do this. I was about to start hyperventilating and I think that Alice noticed because she put her arm around me and smiled. It's okay.

"We would love to go to a performing arts school. It's always been a dream of ours and Bella would never shut up about singing or taking pictures or acting or whatever it was that she was doing and she always dances around randomly and-" the elevator door opened with a ding, thankfully cutting Alice off. She was a sweetheart but sometimes she doesn't shut up and it can get annoying.

"Oh my gosh. You live here?" I asked, looking around. We were standing it the foyer of what seemed to be a three story penthouse apartment. It was modern but not harsh, beautiful in a way that can't be described. I seriously wanted to know who had designed this because it was amazing. It was like my old house. A hint of sadness ran through me but I pushed it away. I am not going to look at the glass half empty. There is water in the glass and that is all that really matters.

"Would you kids like a tour?" asked Esme softly, looking slightly nervous. Her gaze centered on something above my head and changed from nervous, to terrified,then to determined. I was almost afraid to turn around, but I did anyway. Curiosity isn't gonna kill this cat now if it hasn't already. There on the balcony were three of the most beautiful un-airbrushed people I had ever seen.

There was a blond girl who's lips curled slightly, as if the sight of us disgusted her. Thinking back to the car ride, I realized that that must be Rosalie. Wow that's lovely my adopted sister already hates us. There was a guy standing next to here looking slightly bored, smirking at the look on Rosalie's face. Either Jasper or Edward, although the fact that he looked 'amused' and the other guy looked 'moody', I was guessing that he was Jasper. So that left Edward.

In my opinion he looked more than moody' he looked flat out pissed off. He seemed to be glaring at us specifically and individually, as if each and everyone of us had offended him deeply. Funny how he does that when he hasn't even met us. I glanced at Ali, who seemed to have taken Edward's glaring personally and was glaring right back, then at Emmett, who was undressing Rosalie with his mind. Oh how I love my family.

I looked back up at them, surprised to see Jasper looking at me now. He was rolled his eyes and I giggled, somehow managing to draw the attention of everyone in that room by my one little laugh. Rosalie bored holes into my head, and if looks could kill I would be 12 feet under, as Edward was giving me about the same look as Edward.

"Well…" said Carlisle awkwardly, "We're home!"

He's telling me.

**Okay, many apologies for the loooong delay, but I'm working on it! So, what did you think? Please tell me whether you want this to be a J/B or E/B story, because at this point I'm not sure. But I need to make a decision by next chapter so please let me know what you think!**

**Thanks a billion! LOL**


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